Arc 2: Forest Exploration

Chapter 5: Adventurers

It had been almost a year since the incident where Lyo was attacked by the slavers he had escaped from. As it turned out, he had been kidnapped and illegally thrown into slavery, with forged papers to make it appear legit. Apparently, there was a legal form of slavery for criminals and those in debt, but people could also be illegally enslaved.

Apparently, Lyo's village had first been destroyed by bandits, then he was caught by slavers. However, somehow this idiot managed to escape somehow. Furthermore, he then got attacked by monsters, and then found Yuu.

Yuu was not sure if Lyo was lucky or unlucky.

Either way, with Lyo, although Yuu rarely showed his true feelings, he and Yuu were getting along better now. Yuu had ended up making a bigger bed, since Lyo would not stop crawling into the same bed as him, so at least they were not sleeping on top of each other but had their own space. Although Lyo still did that sometimes, and would throw a fit if Yuu tried to separate them. Furthermore, with Lyo here, he had someone to send to hunt for food while he worked on things here, so productivity had ended up increasing. Bandits kept wandering in from time to time, but they didn't stand much chance. Lyo was a genius with a bow, capable of sniping at ranges that surprised Yuu.

Yuu tried to learn archery from Lyo, but...it didn't go well. As expected, he was trash with weapons. He could only use a dagger, and magical staffs or wands.

He also came to realize yet one of many reasons why nudity was not seem so weird or as a taboo here, if Lyo was to be used as an example. Surely enough, Yuu had noticed it as well. The clothes were of poor quality and if worn for long periods, became irritable to the skin. No wonder he was always more comfortable sleeping naked.

However, through all of his research and development, he had finally achieved something wonderous. Comfortable underwear. The technology for thread making of this world was far below his previous one, and the underwear was extremely uncomfortable. Without powder or such, rashes could occur even. It was terrible. Many people didn't even wear underwear as a result. However, he had managed to do it! After a few months of development, he did it!

However, the common sense of this world had many reasons for it, and Yuu was already in the habit, however, without a doubt comfy boxers were great. It took him a lot of time to figure out how to use magic this way though, turning leather and other rougher materials into something different. Furthermore, if they had people over, he wanted something to wear.

Of course, underwear was not the only thing. Even if he had gotten used to sleeping and bathing nude, he did not want to wear rough clothes, and if they were traveling or camping away from home, that was a very irrational thing to do. However, the clothes indeed were not that great. He did hear that nobles had better clothes from Lyo, and that they had softer and nicer feels. However, Yuu still had the memories of Yuuki, and was unsatisfied with this world's level of cloth.

So...he went and did it!

He developed a jacket that was smooth to the touch, more like a raincoat or windbreaker jacket! It was water repellant, although during tests, it was confirmed that submerging was still unpleasant for it. It was durable, fairly nice looking, and looked a bit more modern then other clothing. That said...it was still based on rough material, and based on Lyo, he could not make it "too high quality".

Apparently, he might be accused of stealing it, or some nonsense like that. Nobles might come after him. Because of that, they had to make sure to be careful. Of course, that required going to a place with nobles and people in the first place.

Either way, for Yuu, he now had a Refined Drakeskin Blue hooded sleeveless jacket, Refined Drakeskin Blue Shorts, Refined Drakeskin Blue Boots, super comfy black boxer underwear (hybrid blend), super comfy white socks (hybrid blend) white Refined Cloth sleeveless shirt, and a pair of special goggles that allowed him to analyze magical levels from beasts, people, and such. Even if they didn't use magic, the amount of magic they radiated could still help him determine how strong they are. Nothing specific like numbers, but it was something. The goggles were made using his special managlass, some metals they managed to blast mine using magic, and more drakeskin leather.

As for where the drakeskins came from, they ended up coming across a pack of them last summer. It took Yuu this long to figure out what to do with it. He wanted to curse at those natural genius types who somehow made everything work quickly. This was not easy, the process was a pain. That said, even though it was too warm and hot at night, on nights that it got colder, or maybe when they got older, he could convince Lyo to get his own bed, but more importantly...he had also made pyjammas! That said, making them was an even bigger pain. It wasn't the Auto-Grow factor that would let them grow with him. Nor was it the enhanced durability enchantments. The painful part...was the damn threads! It took a lot of Silversteel Spider harvesting to get the threads. He had to basically learn how to milk spiders at some parts. It was weird, and gross, and he never, ever wanted to do it ever again! Hence the Auto-Grow enchant. Actually, he had finished them today, because it took him awhile to figure out how to use magic to get all the threads together to make the material.

As for Lyo, his equipment was similar to Yuu's, only it was green and had a different design so they didn't completely match, also a bit bigger. Lyo was not growing that fast, but...he was a few centimeters taller then Yuu. Apparently, Wood Elves were known to be short genetically, but Yuu was rather short for a human his age. There was a good chance he would get picked on because of it.

The jackets could deploy sleeves actually, but it was hot all year round in the canyon, only a few times in winter getting cold enough to get snow. Yuu also had developed several board games, since it did rain quite a few times, so they had something to do, and he managed to get his flute, and then his automatic flute player, working.

"Hey, Yuu...you know, we should totally become adventurers!"

"Sounds like a great way to get ripped off" Yuu replied, washing some dishes.

"Oh come on! There are plenty of nice people out there!"

"Didn't you get kidnapped by slavers twice?"

"Yeah, but...there are still lots of nice people out there?"

"What about the bandits that threated to...well, do things to us?"

"Again, those are against the norm".

The two seven year olds were having this sort of discussion. Lyo wanted to convince Yuu to come with him. In truth, Lyo was a bit concerned for Yuu. His outlook of people was...grim, to say the least. He finally was more trusting and open with Lyo, but...he was firmly opposed to dealing with other people.

In the first place, he was clearly able to live on his own just fine here.

"Buuuut….they have books and stuff! And other kids our age!"

Yuu hesitated for a moment. Yes, Yuu was interested in books. Not so much making friends, but...books were one of his few solaces, ways to escape his parents abuse. So he had a bit of affection for books. Fiction books. Story books. Science books. This world apparently, while not totally mass producing books, had created enough books that even some of the wealthier commoners could get one.

"But...people are backstabbing jerks. We cant trust them" Yuu mentioned.

"What about me? Didn't I prove people can be trusted?"

"You are a weird, freeky mutant" Yuu said half jokingly. "I probably would not have acted if my shadow had not acted for me".

"But...your shadow is based on your subconscious or whatever right? So clearly, you saw me as a friend at that point!"

"Just...shut up! Shut up! Moron! Idiot!"

"I love you too!"

"Ahhh, just go away! We need more materials anyways! Go hunt some bird monster magic stones! Those things are really compatible with wind magic!"

"Yes yes" Lyo said, hugging Yuu from behind and then heading off.

"Stop doing that!" Yuu shouted. Lyo seemed to deeply enjoy making his affection, platonic as it was, open and known.

Granted it was just the two of them, but Yuu knew for a fact he was the kind of idiot who would announce them as best friends in the middle of the street and embarrass Yuu.

"Well, I guess its time to get to work..."

Yuu started to say that, when his pendent began to glow. This was a magic communicator between him and Lyo. He answered it with an annoyed voice.

"Its only been a minute..."

"Yuu! Check the perimeter!"

"Huh?" he said, when the perimeter alarm went off. Lyo seemed to have pretty good hearing, so he must have heard something.

"What is it?"

"I have six individuals. No wait, seven. Eight. Nine...its staying at nine! It looks like a group of five hunting a group of four. Why? What are you picking up?"

"People! At least four voices, shouting to each other. Maintain formation, keep calm! Remember that they have to survive to report their findings! Something about an exploration force maybe? Either way, they are up against a pack of Magibears!"

Magibears was not all that complicated to understand. They were bears that could use magic. They had some sort of stone on their forehead and were large, so they were easily to identify. However, they did not usually hunt in packs. Each one was a leader in its own right. Apparently they got together every so often to mate, but otherwise, they led weaker monsters as leaders.

"I see...well, let me know when the bandits get killed so we can go loot their bodies" Yuu said without any real care about them. The Magibears thing was weird and warrented investigation, but the bandits were just scum who should get killed.

"I dont think they are bandits! They have proper steel weapons, one is a mage, and the other is an archer! I think they are adventurers!"

"Adventurers?"

Yuu had not encountered any adventurers yet, except for those that abused him before he regained his memories. He didn't have positive feelings about them as a result.

"Cool. In that case, I will come over, so we can both immediately loot their corpses when they die. They should have some good gear. Maybe I will even be able to make you a pair of goggles".

"Yuu…"

Lyo was using his angry voice. The amount of times Yuu had heard that voice was in the single digits, and it almost always meant that Yuu was doing something morally wrong. The last time was when he learned Yuu was experimenting on living bandits to see if he could increase a health potion's effectiveness, as well as what sort of magics did what. Yuu got scolded for a good hour or two, and Lyo made him be his pillow for a whole week. Leave it to Lyo to come up with such a childish punishment. So far it was "be tied to a tree naked", "be my pillow", "let me draw all over your face", and "let me wash you head from toe". Lyo was childish like that. Well, they were effective in their own way.

"Hey! We cant trust them! The last adventurers I met beat me up and used me for entertainment! I got tied up and my rear got used as a dart board!"

Thankfully they were not big darts, but it was still bad.

"Yuu...not everyone is the same. I am not like that right?"

"We are both seven! They are older! They will try and take advantage of us!"

"Yuu, you need to learn not to hate every single person you come across".

"I dont hate them!"

"Fine, you cant immediately assume they are looking to screw you over..."

"...its an involuntairy reflex. I cant help it".

"Yuu, at the very least, how about you help me make sure they dont die? Okay?"

"Fiiine" Yuu caved, running out to help. Honestly though, he was mainly coming to keep Lyo safe. He didn't care about the others, so long as Lyo lived he would be happy.

Either way, he made it to the perimeter breach. Surely enough, there were two warriors, one mage, and one archer. Unlike bandits, they appeared to have good and well maintained equipment. Compared to the bandits, they were much stronger also. The mage was able to cast spells fairly well, although...

"Is speaking out words to cast a spell a habit?"

"I heard that some people had to do that...speaking of which, you don't use any words usually do you?"

"Yeah, some magic comes easier for me. So long as its basic or simple magic, I dont need to say anything. But, if its magic that is more powerful or on a larger scale, sometimes I have to".

"Maybe...it helps focus it..."

Suddenly, a huge swirling flame tornado emerged.

"What are those idiots thinking?!" Yuu shouted as he stood up on the tree branch.

"A fire spell that size could seriously damage the forest.

Yuu swung his staff around, and let loose a torrent of water. "Aquos Surge!"

He immediately put out the fires that began from the flames, as well as smashing into both the bears and adventurers.

"Yuu!"

"Ah...sorry sorry!"

"You know what this means right? We are going to use those"

The moment Lyo said that, Yuu's face went red.

"Now hold on, that was an accident! I dont even understand why bandits hand those, let alone why you took them!"

"No way I will believe that! Look, you defeated the bears, but the adventurers are unconscious! You better apologize properly and accept your punishment!"

"Eep! Be reasonable!"

Aching pain.

That was what Argen Reese, the leader of the adventurer party, Daysparrow, felt as he began to regain consciousness. He remembered vaguely what had happened. They encountered something unusual, a back of Magibears, and they all attacked them at once. While fleeing and defending, their mage panicked and let loose a flame spell in the middle of a dense forest. Then, as if reacting to the flame, a huge flood of water came out of nowhere and swamped them all.

That was when he started to look around, and he heard two voices...young by the sounds of it, complaining.

"Why did you strip them completely naked!"

"All of their clothes were wet! I couldn't let them catch a cold! More importantly, accept your punishment properly and let me tie this!"

"Muuu...come on? Couldn't you just...use me as a pillow again or something?"

"You are the one that released that spell, so you apologize to them properly!"

"But this is..."

"Just do it!"

That was when the man looked around, and saw that lying on the grounds with blankets over their bodies, but not their heads, were the other members of his party. The other warrior, Lysander. The female archer, Verona. The mage, Cassor. That was when the door opened, and two young girls came in...wearing maid dresses. Although one of them looked like she was about to faint from embarrassment.

Wait...could it be...

"H...hello...I am sorry for accidentally flooding your party" the girl said as he did a curtsy, only to get the footing wrong and fall down. No doubt in Argen's mind. He was a boy.

"Erm...why are you..."

"This is part of his punishment for, among other things, casting the spell that knocked out your party".

"Wait wait...what?"

The boy in question could only be six, maybe seven at most. And yet he cast a spell that took out an entire party of adult adventurers?

"Ah...I think he was probably punished enough. Anyways, I am guessing you were worried about a forest fire and wanted to stop the forest from burning down, right? I understand, all is forgiven...and since I think we need to have a bit of a discussion, feel free to wear something more comfortable".

Hearing those words, the embarrassed boy immediately took the other boy's hand and charged out of the room. Some violent sounds could be heard, but when they returned, the two were dressed in simple shorts and sleeveless shirts. The noise ended up waking up the rest of the party though, so they had to get a repeat on the explanation.

Either way, afterwards, during the talks and introductions, and after the boy named Yuu provided them with some dry, spare clothing he had in storage, they began the explanation. It appeared that they had been living in the woods, on their own, without any adults for a year now. Which was surprising in its own right...

"And then, Yuu made me this really cool super bow that can devastate like, everything in my path!"

"Idiot! That was a terrible explanation!"

"But it gets the point across, right?"

"Uhg...sorry, he is a moron".

"But I am also your bestest best friend in the universe and history of best friendships!"

"Moron! Dont blurt things out like that! Its embarrassing!"

There were a lot of strange points to these two, but above all...whenever Yuu was in the room, he kept everyone within his eyesight at all times, and Argen got the feeling he was spreading his mana out to keep watch that way too. The boy didn't trust them at all. Lyo on the other hand, he seemed far less cautious, constantly playing and messing with Yuu.

"I see...so...you have just been living out here, all this time on your own then?"

"Of course" Yuu said, not giving anything away. And yet at the same time, Argen felt a chill go down his back, as if it might be a bad idea to continue that conversation further. That was when they heard a strange noise.

"What was that?"

"That was our perimeter alarm! Yuu set it up so it lets us know when people are coming!"

"Idiot, dont tell them about my stuff! Its mine!"

"Ah! Sorry sorry!"

Yuu got up and went into another room.

"ITs another group of four! Coming from the south this time!"

"Ah, it might be another party. There is a large scale quest to investigate this area and map it".

"Tsk. Cant you all just stay away in your cities?" Yuu muttered.

"Sorry about that...he was kinda abused by...everyone, so he hates everyone. It even took me awhile before he fully opened up".

Actually Lyo sort of recklessly barged his way into Yuu's heart, but that was besides the point.

That was when the adventurers noticed there were weird rings on them, each one having one.

"Ah...it was his his demand in exchange for letting you guys come into our base. Dont worry, those things will only kill you if you bestray or attack us in any way. Really sorry about that".

Argen's head was full of red lights as a result. This boy trusted people so little that he had to put some sort of death curse on them?! Just how badly was this boy abused?

The mage, Cassor, was meanwhile trying to examine the ring, but there was some sort of magical encoding to stop that. He roughly understood the ring was already connected to their hearts, and if they took it off, they would die quite painfully.

Clearly, this boy was not going to trust them all that easily.

Yuu came back, this time dressed in high quality gear. Verona's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw it.

"I am going to scout, see if its adventurers or bandits. Lyo, stay here and if they do anything suspicious, dont be a sap and just kill them".

"Muuu….Yuu, that's a bit harsh".

"Its kill or be killed" Yuu retorted, as he then left.

"Well, I am going to cook up some lunch! Just...stay here I guess!"

With that, Lyo left as well, closing the door behind him.

"Hey, Argen...you saw that kid's clothes right?"

"Yeah...that was Drakeskin, right Verona?"

"I think so, but that level of treatment...I have never seen anything like it. It seemed water resistant from the look, but also rather comfortable. Looks like it was made a bit large to grow into...but, that looked extremely protective as well. Like it could absorb quite a bit of damage".

"That kid is only seven, but his gear is probably close to a C-Rank Adventurer at least, maybe lower end of B. That magic too...its extremely powerful, also upper C or lower B ranked".

"Do you think the other one is just as absurd?"

"I mean...if he managed to get that paranoid kid to trust him, he is already absurd I would say".

"Maybe..."

That was when Lyo popped his head back in.

"By the way, why are you guys exploring here in the first place?"

"Ah, we were investigating strange spikes in magical energy coming from this area".

"Strange spikes?" Lyo muttered, wondering if it was something to be concerned about.

But for now, he shrugged it off. He could mention it to Yuu later.